Here are the Senate and House Calendars for the next voting session day and Committees scheduling action on bills of interest as well as a list of new environmental bills introduced--

Bill Calendars

House (Feb. 5): House Bill 1401 (DiGirolamo-R-Bucks) which amends Title 58 to impose a sliding scale natural gas severance tax, in addition to the Act 13 drilling impact fee, on natural gas production (NO money for environmental programs) and includes provisions related to minimum landowner oil and gas royalties; House Bill 2034 (Marshall-R-Beaver) requiring agriculture lime to be labeled with the percentage of molybdenum it contains; House Resolution 284 (Moul-R-Adams) urging Congress to repeal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s MS4 Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program (sponsor summary).  <> Click Here for full House Bill Calendar.

Senate (Feb. 5): Senate Bill 792 (Alloway-R-Franklin) requiring law fertilizer applicators to be certified in application techniques and creates an education program; Senate Resolution 104 (Bartolotta-R-Washington) resolution urging the Governor to end the moratorium on new non-surface disturbance natural gas drilling on state forest land (sponsor summary); Senate Resolution 226 (Yudichak-D-Luzerne) directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct an independent performance evaluation of DEP’s Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation) and Chapter 105 (Water Obstruction and Encroachment) permitting programs (sponsor summary); House Bill 913 providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by incorporated towns; House Bill 914 providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by boroughs; House Bill 915 providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by first class townships; and  House Bill 916 providing for the adoption of stormwater fees by Cities of the Third Class; House Bill 1341 (Pyle-R-Armstrong) further providing for training and certification of emergency medical personnel responding to bituminous deep mine accidents (House Fiscal Note and summary); House Bill 1486 (Zimmerman-R- Lancaster) exempting agricultural high-tunnel structures from the Stormwater Management Act (House Fiscal Note and summary); House Bill 1550 (Klunk-R-York) changing restrictions on preserved land to allow for an additional residence (House Fiscal Note and summary). <> Click Here for full Senate Bill Calendar.

Committee Meeting Agendas This Week

House: the Appropriations Committee holds a hearing on investment and expenditures from special funds by the Department of Treasury; the State Government Committee meets to consider House Bill 1237 (Keefer-R-York) The General Assembly would be required to vote on a concurrent resolution to approve an economically significant regulation (which has an annual fiscal impact totaling $1 million or more on the government or private sector), in order for that regulation to go into effect.  If the General Assembly does nothing, the regulation cannot go into effect.  Click Here for more; House Bill 1959 (Rothman-R-Cumberland) Establishes the Pennsylvania Permit Act which requires agencies to create and develop a navigable online permit tracking system and takes authority to issue certain permits away from state agencies and gives it to third-party reviewers.  Click Here for more; House Bill 1960 (Ellis-R-Butler) Requires each agency to appoint a Regulatory Compliance Officer with the authority to waive fines and penalties if a permit holder attempts to comply.  Click Here for more; House Bill 209 (Phillips-Hill-R-York): Establishes the Independent Office of the Repealer to undertake an ongoing review of existing regulations; receive and process recommendations; and make recommendations to the General Assembly, the governor, and executive agencies for repeal. Additional provisions of this legislation would both establish a moratorium on new regulatory burdens and create a process for “sunsetting” existing regulations by placing a cap on the number of regulations and requiring the repeal of two existing regulations for every  new regulation promulgated. Click Here for more from an identical bill introduced last session-- House Bill 2408;House Bill 1792 (Benninghoff-R-Mifflin) Gives the General Assembly the ability to initiate the repeal of any state regulation in effect by a concurrent resolution modeled after a federal procedure used successfully by the Trump Administration to repeal regulations (sponsor summary)  <>  Click Here for full House Committee Schedule.

Senate: the CANCELED- Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meets to consider Senate Bill 800 (Alloway-R-Franklin) totally revamping the state electronic waste recycling program.  <>  Click Here for full Senate Committee Schedule.

Other: Governor’s Budget Address; the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee holds hearing on Pennsylvania’s Nutrient Credit Trading Program; the CANCELED-- Joint Legislative Budget & Finance Committee to release an update of cost estimates for an alternative approach to meeting PA’s Chesapeake Bay nutrient reduction targets.

Bills Pending In Key Committees

Check the PA Environmental Council Bill Tracker for the status and updates on pending state legislation and regulations that affect environmental and conservation efforts in Pennsylvania.

Session Schedule

Here is the latest voting session schedule for the Senate and House--

Senate

February 5, 6 (Governor's Budget Address), 7

Budget Hearings: Feb. 20 - March 8

March 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28

April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30

May 1, 2, 21, 22, 23

June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

House

February 5, 6, 7

Budget Hearings: Feb. 20 to March 8

March 12, 13, 14

April 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 30

May 1, 2, 22, 23

June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Governor’s Schedule

Gov. Tom Wolf's work calendar will be posted each Friday and his public schedule for the day will be posted each morning.   Click Here to view Gov. Wolf’s Weekly Calendar and Public Appearances.

2/5/2018